Assassination by Air Crash
Deaths by accident (or what appear to be accidents) happen, especially to political leaders on aircraft. Timeline 1930s * Spanish putschist Gen. José Sanjuro a.k.a. José Sanjurjo y Sacanell, 1st Marquess of the Rif, dies in an air crash from Portugal to Spain. July 20, 1936. Francisco Franco benefits. 1940s * German Third Reich Armaments Planner Fritz Todt February 8, 1942 * British Winston Churchill double Alfred Tregear Chenhalls June 1, 1943 * Polish Prime Minister in exile, General Wladyslaw Sikorski July 1943 * British war crimes investigator, Col. Cyril Hew Dalrymple Wild, September 25, 1946 1950s * Chinese junior officials and journos die in the crash of Kashmir Princess Air Flight 300 from Hong Kong to Jakarta on April 11, 1955. Originally scheduled to fly were PRC Premier Zhou Enlai and his entourage to the Nonaligned Conference in Bandung. Did the senior level cadres sacrifice their junior level cadres because they knew that the KMT Qingbai ju 情报局 had planted a bomb on board? * President Barthélémy Boganda March 29, 1959 1960s * National Fuel Trust Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI) Director Enrico Mattei 1962 * President Abdul Salam Arif April 13, 1966 * Former Presidential candidate, Mexican reformist politician Carlos A. Madrazo and his wife Graciela Pintado 1969 1970s * Heir Apparent to Chinese leader Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, September 13, 1971 * Congressman and former member of the Warren Commission, Hale Boggs October 16, 1972 * Prime Minister Džemal Bijedić January 18, 1977 1980s * Indian politician and probable future Prime Minister, Sanjay Gandhi, June 23, 1980 * President Jaime Roldós Aguilera, May 24, 1981 * Panamanian dictator, General Omar Torrijos, August 1, 1981 * Peace Activist Samantha Smith August 25, 1985 * Mozambique President Samora Machel October 20, 1986 * Pakistani dictator, General Zia ul-Haq August 17, 1988 1990s * U.S. Senator John Heinz April 4, 1991 * 25 British intelligence experts from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army June 2, 1994 * U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown April 3, 1996 * John F. Kennedy, Jr., July 16, 1999. See The JFK Jr. Assassination Conspiracy: "Accident Or Murder?" 2000s * Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan October 16, 2000 * Burmese hard line Lt. Gen. Tin Oo, Secretary Two of the ruling State Peace and Development Council and Army Chief of Staff (helicopter explosion) February 20, 2001 * Sudanese Deputy Defense Minister Ibrahim Shamsul-Din, April 4, 2001 * U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone October 25, 2002 * Southern Sudanese Rebel Leader John Garang July 2005 * Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino and Deputy Attorney General Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, November 4, 2008 * High level Republican consultant subpoenaed to testify in election hacking investigation, Mike Connell, December 19, 2008. 2010s * Paraguayan National Union of Ethical Citizens presidential candidate Lino Oviedo, January 2, 2013. Divisive Candidate in Paraguay Is Killed in Helicopter Crash Simon Romero. New York Times. January 3, 2013. * Laotian Defense Minister Douangchay Phichit, also a Deputy Prime Minister and member of the Politburo, May 17, 2014.Laos Plane Crashes With Defense Minister On Board, Thai Official Reports Jocelyn Gecker. Associated Press. May 17, 2014. * United States Senate candidate, Libertarian Dr. Doug Butzier, killed in plane crash near Dubuque Regional Airport. Huffington Post. October 14, 2014. Attempted * Kenyan conservationist and politician Richard Leakey 1993 Links * Assassination